Bill Veeck, Charlie Finley, George Steinbrenner were examples of owners that were bigger than life and wanted nothing more than to win (and put on a show). Walter O’Malley was cut from the same cloth. Peter was more of a pragmatic businessman who knew he could not spend to stay in the game, and got out. None of those early owners would let MLB tell them how to spend their…
BRAVES AND THE PEN: Braves have now signed 3 pitchers who will serve as late inning high leverage relievers. On Monday they signed Chris Martin to a two year $14MM contract after signing Will Smith to a three year $40MM deal. Earlier this month, they signed Darren O’Day to a one year $2.25MM contract. They also have Mark Melancon in the final year of his four year $62MM contract. Thus…
Enjoying a Veterans Day weekend in Atascadero, CA celebrating my youngest grand daughter’s first birthday. Frankly, my thoughts are filled with her and not so much Dodger baseball. Trade proposals have been flying around this blog with renewed fervor over the past few weeks. I admit those discussions have a certain excitement to them, much like anticipating that new toy you want for Christmas, all the while knowing that most…
So the past few days we have seen all sorts of made-up, fantasy league baseball trades…. most of which have no basis in reality. Bluto may have had the best idea: CWS getsJoc Pederson (from Dodgers)George Valera (from Indians)Civale (from Indians) CLEVE gets:Seager (from Dodgers)Maeda (from Dodgers)Kopech (from CWS)James Beard (from CWS) LAD gets:Lindor (from Indians)Kluber (from Indians)Bummer (from CWS)Konor Pilkington (from CWS)Rocchio (from Indians) That was creative in getting…
This past regular season, the Washington Nationals had the worst bullpen in baseball. Out of 30 MLB teams, they were #30 in ERA at 5.66. MLB average was 4.43 and the Dodgers were #4 in MLB in ERA. The Nationals bullpen was also worst in baseball allowing hitters a .266 batting average. To say that their bullpen was horrible would be kind. Yet, here they are on the way to…
The State of the Bullpen… and Dodger Pitching In the month of September of teams that are likely candidates to play the Dodgers in the 2019 Fall Classic, here is how they compare in bullpen ERA since September 1st: Dodgers – 3.28 Astros – 3.47 Yankees – 3.81 HR per 9 Innings Dodgers – .95 Astros – 1.52 Yankees – 1.59 BABIP – Batting Average Balls in-Play Dodgers – .242…
We may not know what we think we know and don’t know what we don’t know and I hope we know that we don’t know. Confused? I know… We know Justin Turner can walk – we don’t know if he can run. We will find out today. It seems that they are just being cautious and if this were the postseason he would be playing. We know that Dick Mountain…
To lose a game without learning something is a sad state of affairs. Yes, the Dodgers lost last night game, but they learned a few things in the process: If you can’t jump out of a boat and hit water, you probably won’t win (OK, OK, we already knew that); Hyun-jin Ryu has gone from being left off the playoff roster (in some of your minds) back to Cy Young…
Well, it’s always been serious, but with two weeks left in the season, it’s “Playoff Tune-up Time” which is very serious. It’s likely that Rich Hill and Alex Verdugo will not be ready for the NLDS… or maybe the NLCS and the World Series. David Freese and Justin Turner are banged up and we have no clue how healthy they will be. This is the hand the Dodgers have to…
So, if you listen to the Herm Edwards, you would always play to win the game. Well, that might be true in a 16 game football season, but I am going to suggest that while you don’t ever play to lose, in a baseball season that is 10 times longer than a football season, there are reasons you don’t always play to win the game. “Sometimes we need to lose…